Electric lamp receptacle fastening means



Patented Nov. 28, 1933 UNITED PAT NT. OFFICE "ELEc'raIoLAMFRECEPTACLEFASTENING MEANS Frank E. Johnson; New Bedford,Massg'assignor 1 f ;to John I. Pauld ing," Inc., New Bedford, Mass.,

a corporation of Massachusetts 7 i V Application'August 13; 1928. SerialNo. 299,367

' 1 oiaini. (01. 173439) This invention relates to electric lampreceptacles and more particularly to mean's for fasten ing receptaclesof thischaracter in illuminated signs. Electric illuminated'signs' aregenerally made of-thin sheet metal provided with circular holes,

for receiving and holding electric lamprece'ptacles, the holes beingpositioned and arranged.

to form letters ordesigns, In some cases, the

circular holes are provided with a pair'of oppo'-' site ly disposed openrecesses or radial slot's for receiving fastening means for holding thereceptacles in position on the sign board. In such cases, the receptacleis mounted on the backside of the sign board with a circular lip fittingwithin. the hole and is held thereon'bysuitable' screws or other devicesthreaded into the receptacle and having their heads overlapping the sideedges of the radial slots; One disadvantage of method of fastening thereceptacles'onfto thesign boards is that it requires the services of twomen, one in back of the sign board to place the receptacle and the otherin front to adjust the fastening means. Another disadvantage I of thismethod is due to the fact that such sign-boards are generally placed inpositions wherethey are caused to sway or move byfwind'pre'ssureandbreakages of the receptacles are frequent be cause of lack of resiliencyin the fastening means;

One of the objects .of the present invention is the provision of meansfor fastening electric lamp receptacles on a sign board which means isof such construction that the rec'eptacles maybe" placed in position andfastened to the boardby one man operating in the back of the board}Another object of the invention is the provision of fastening meanswhich is resilient and will yield to compensate for any movement of thesheet metal sign thereby preventing breakage of the receptacles.

A further object of the invention is to provide fastening means sodesigned that the receptacles may be mounted on the sign board rapidlyand with a minimum of labor and effort and which may be made ata verylow cost simple and eflicient.

Other objects of the invention willbe more specifically set forth anddescribed hereinafter;

' My invention contemplates a lampreceptacle adapted for use onilluminated sign boards which is provided with a pair of oppositelydisposed fa s tening members having. portions on the front face of thereceptacle adapted to overlap the edges of the'radial slots in the signboard to hold the receptacle thereon. The fastening members areresiliently mounted in the receptacle sothat they will yield slightly incase there is any movement of its sign board'in order to prevent break-vages of the receptaclesp The fastening means are mounted inrecessesopening from the back and yet which is 'inthe fasteningoperation. This feature of the invention makes itpossible for oneworkman to install the rec'eptacles from the backof the board and tofasten them in position on the board with: great rapidity and a minimumof effort thereby effecting economies of time and labor over tmethodsheretoforein use.

In the accompanying drawingillustrating one embodiment of theinvention,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portionof a sign board anda re ceptacle fastened thereto in accordance with my invention; Figure 2is a plan view of the bottom face ofthe receptacle; Figure 3 is a viewon 'anenlarged scale partly inelevation and partly in section of thereceptacle fastened to a sign board; Figure 4 is a sectional view of aportion-only of the receptacle also on an enlarged scale, showing one ofthe fastening members in unlockedposi tion; and Figure 5 isja viewinperspective of one in'g spring sides. r r

Referring to the drawing, '10 indicates a lamp receptacle made from anysuitable insulating material such as rubber composition, fibre orporcelain or'other molded material having in itsupper face ace'ntral,socket recess 12 within which is fastened by two screws 14 athreaded'metallic shellg l6 for receiving the lamp. The closed 'end'orportion of the shell is cut out to receive an elevated portion 18formed'on the bottom of the socket recess '12 which looks theshellagainst rotation and at the same time insulates it'from the central lampterminal 20 mounted withina depression 22 in the portion 18. Theoute'rbottom face of the receptacle has two separate recesses 24 and 26 formedtherein for rece'ivinga straight wire terminal 28 and a curved marginalwiret'erminal 30 respectively provided withbinding screws 32 and 34respectively.- The wire termin'a'l'at 28 isconnected by ascre'w 36 tothe central lamp terminal 20 which form of fastening meanscomprising aplate havits two ends to the shell by the two screws 14 and is furtherheld to the receptacle by a screw 38. Both recessesopen out on each-sideat 39 to permit the circuit'wires to be connected to the binding screwson the terminals from either side.-

For fastening the receptacle to a sign board 40 the top ;or front faceof the receptacle is" pro: vided-with a circular lip 42 adapted to fitin a circular hole44 in the signboard to prevent lat-' eral" movement ofthe receptaclethereon and mounted on the receptacle are fastening meansadapted to extend through two oppositely dis-1 posed slots or recesses46 of identical form'opening into the hole 44 and to overlap the edgesof The fastening means are preferably permanently mounted on thereceptacle so that the two may be treated as a unitary structure.

The receptacle is preferably provided with two oppositely disposed lugsor ears and 51 for carrying the fastening means, each earhaving a bore52 formed therein opening from the bottom face of the car, which bore isconnected by a bore 54 of smaller diameter to the top face of the earthereby forming a square shoulder 56 at the top of the larger bore. Torelieve the strain on the ears the bores 52 may be partially formed inthe main body of the receptacle as. shownin.

Figure 3 at 58. I

In the preferred form-of the invention two fastening members ofdifferent construction are provided for each receptacle, one of themembers being so formed that one side of the receptacle may be slippedin place on the sign board without requiring manipulation of that memberand the other side is then fastened to the sign board by merely turningthe other fastening member through an arc of approximately ninetydegrees.

The first member comprises a thin square plate 60 (Figure 5)centrallythreaded on the end of a screw 62 mounted in the bore 54 of theear 51 with its head in the bore 52 overlapping and in engagement withthe shoulder 56. The two sides 64 adjacent the outer end of the plate 60are depressed to form resilient spring members and the outer end 66 isflared upwardly, The top surface of the ear 51 may be provided with araised or elevated portion 68 to fit into theplate between the depressedside portions thereof to prevent the plate turning on the screw 62 andthe outer edge of the ear is bevelled at 70 to facilitate the slippingof that side of the receptacle in place on the sign board. The inneredge of the plate 60 normally engages-the lip 42 which also contributesto preventing the plate turning on'the screw 62.

The second fastening means comprises a T- shaped member having a head 72on the top 1 face of the ear and a shank '74 mountedin the bore 54 andextending downwardly into the bore 52 and having its end split to formtwo prongs 76 turned outwardly to hold on said shank a washer '78 and ahelical spring 80 abutting at its lower end said washer and at its upperend the shoulder 56. The spring is normally. under compression to forcethe T-shaped member downwardly. In Figure 4 the T-shaped member is shownwith one endof its headportion '72 locked in a depression 82 in thecircular lip 42 so'that the receptacle is prepared for presentation tothe sign board. V r

In mounting the receptacle in the opening 44 of a sign board, theworkman stands back of the board and presents the receptacle to theopening in position to receive the two edges of one slot opening 46between the flared edge 66 of the plate 60 and the bevelled portion '70of the car 51. He then moves the receptacle radially of the opening 44and along the slot to force the edges thereof between the depressedsides 64 of the plate 60 and the top face of the car 51 and continuesthis movement until the circular lip 42 slips into the opening 44 andthe head '72 of the T-shaped fastening member through the other slot 46.With an ordinary screw driver or similar tool inserted between theprongs 76, the workman then turns the said member approximately aquarter circle into the position shown in Figure 1 and releases it. Thespring then forces the fastening member downwardly with its head across]the slot thereby completing the locking 'ofthe receptacle to the signboard. To remove the. receptacle from the sign board, the fasteningmember is pressed outwardly by the use of a board then completed by asidewise movement to Withdraw the plate 60 from the other recess. Theoperations of fastening the receptacle in place on the board or removingit therefrom, are extremely simple and may, with a little practice, beperformed in a moment of time. After the receptacle has been fastened inplace there is no danger of separation because of vibration of the boardor other cause since the T-shaped fastening member is prevented by thelip 42 from turning to a position whereits head can pass through theslot.

It will be observed that the receptacle is held looked on the sign boardby means which are resilient and which will yield to compensate forvibrations .of the sign board and thereby breakages. of the receptacleare avoided. The T- shaped fastening member is held by the spring 80which will yield, when there is movement of v the sign board,sufficiently to relieve the receptacle from strain on that account andvthe same is true of the depressed sides of the plate member 60. I

It is to benoted that in addition to the advantages of my inventionalready pointed out, thework of mounting receptacles on signs may beperformed rapidly by one workman on the rear side of the board andthereby effects a material saving in the work of preparing anilluminated sign for the reception of the lamps.

'My invention is capable of use with receptacles of various forms andthe receptacle herein shown and described is illustrative only of suchuse.

It to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the exactforms herein shown and described since it may be embodied in other.

the purview of the folof communicating slots therethrough, a lampreceptacle having a flange adapted to through said opening and a faceadapted to abut the rear face of said boardsaid face having a projectionadapted to fit one of said slots, a rectangular plate fixedly secured tosaid projection and having resilient depressed side portions, said platebeing adapted to be passed through said opening from the rear side ofsaid board and over one of said slots with its side portions overlappingthe edges thereof to lock one side of said receptacle to said board, anda rotatable member resiliently mounted in said receptacle and having aT- shaped head projecting from said face and adapted to be passedthrough the other of said slots and to be turned cross-wise, said slotto lock the other side of said receptacle to said board, said memberhaving its inner end formed for permittingit to be rotated from the saidboard. v

. FRANK E. JOHNSON.

rear side of

